The document discusses customer expectations of service, noting that customers hold different types of expectations and that their expectations are influenced by various factors both within and outside a company's control. It also examines issues regarding customer expectations, such as whether companies should try to exceed expectations through delighting customers or simply meet basic expectations. Overall, the document provides a framework for understanding customer expectations of service quality.
This document discusses a purchase model for services and factors that influence customer expectations. It outlines three phases of service purchase: pre-purchase, service encounter, and post-purchase. In the pre-purchase phase, internal factors like needs/wants, external factors like alternatives, and perceived risk influence decision making. During the service encounter, factors like role theory and service personnel impact quality. In post-purchase, customers evaluate quality, satisfaction, and future behavior. The document also discusses how customer expectations are bounded by a desired level and adequate level, with a zone of tolerance in between. Personal needs, service intensifiers, alternatives, and situational factors shape these expectation levels.
Customer expectations are beliefs about the level of service that will be provided. These expectations act as standards that customers use to evaluate service quality. There are two main types of expectations: desired service, which is the ideal level hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum tolerable level. Understanding customer expectations is critical for service providers because if performance does not meet or exceed expectations, customers will be dissatisfied. The key is delivering a level of service that falls within customers' "zone of tolerance" between adequate and desired service.
Customer expectations are beliefs about the level of service that will be provided. There are two types of expectations: desired service, which is the optimal level hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum tolerable level. Factors like personal needs, past experiences, available alternatives, and situational factors influence expectations. Gaps can occur when customer expectations do not align with a provider's understanding of them, service design, delivery of service, or communications about the service. Measuring perceptions against expectations on reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles can identify service quality issues using the SERVQUAL model. Addressing gaps within the organization is important to improve customer satisfaction.
Bimtech sm4a consumer expectations of serviceprateek sharma
The document discusses customer expectations of service and how to manage those expectations. There are three main types of customer expectations - minimum tolerable, acceptable, and desired/ideal. Acceptable expectations represent an adequate level of service while desired expectations are the customer's wishes. Customer expectations are influenced by personal needs, alternatives, past experiences, and situational factors. A company must understand customer expectations and the "zone of tolerance" around acceptable service levels to consistently meet and hopefully exceed expectations through reliable service and customer relationship management. Exceeding expectations can create loyal customers but also raises expectations over time.
This document provides an overview of services marketing and key concepts related to customer expectations and measuring service quality. It discusses four categories of services: service industries and companies, services as products, customer service, and derived service. Several factors that influence customer expectations are outlined, including personal needs, lasting service intensifiers, and perceived service alternatives. Customer expectations, satisfaction, and delight are defined. The importance of service quality in marketing is discussed and various dimensions of service quality like performance, reliability and aesthetics are explained. Challenges faced in services industries due to the intangible nature of services are also summarized.
The document discusses customer expectations of service delivery. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about the level of service they hope to receive (desired service) and the minimum level they will accept (adequate service). The zone of tolerance is the range of service between these levels. Factors that influence desired service are personal needs and lasting sensitivities, while factors for adequate service are more temporary and situational. The document also discusses antecedents of expectations, such as explicit promises, word of mouth, and past experience, and issues around managing customer expectations.
The document discusses customer expectations of service delivery. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about the level of service they hope to receive (desired service) and the minimum level they will accept (adequate service). The zone of tolerance is the range of service between these levels that customers are willing to accept. Factors that influence desired service are more stable and individual, while factors affecting adequate service are more temporary and situational. These include personal needs, service intensifiers, perceived alternatives, and predicted service levels. Managing customer expectations involves communicating reasons for gaps in service and efforts to improve, as exceeding expectations regularly may unintentionally raise standards over time.
This presentation discusses customer expectations of service. It begins by defining customer expectations and explaining that there are different types and levels of expectations, including ideal, normative, experience-based, acceptable, and minimum tolerance expectations.
It then examines the factors that influence customer expectations, such as explicit and implicit promises made by marketers, word of mouth, past experience, and situational factors. Current issues involving customer expectations are also addressed, like how to meet unrealistic expectations and exceed customer expectations.
The presentation concludes by providing strategies for how service marketers can influence expectations, answering frequently asked questions, and highlighting examples of what basic expectations customers have for different service types.
This document discusses a purchase model for services and factors that influence customer expectations. It outlines three phases of service purchase: pre-purchase, service encounter, and post-purchase. In the pre-purchase phase, internal factors like needs/wants, external factors like alternatives, and perceived risk influence decision making. During the service encounter, factors like role theory and service personnel impact quality. In post-purchase, customers evaluate quality, satisfaction, and future behavior. The document also discusses how customer expectations are bounded by a desired level and adequate level, with a zone of tolerance in between. Personal needs, service intensifiers, alternatives, and situational factors shape these expectation levels.
Customer expectations are beliefs about the level of service that will be provided. These expectations act as standards that customers use to evaluate service quality. There are two main types of expectations: desired service, which is the ideal level hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum tolerable level. Understanding customer expectations is critical for service providers because if performance does not meet or exceed expectations, customers will be dissatisfied. The key is delivering a level of service that falls within customers' "zone of tolerance" between adequate and desired service.
Customer expectations are beliefs about the level of service that will be provided. There are two types of expectations: desired service, which is the optimal level hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum tolerable level. Factors like personal needs, past experiences, available alternatives, and situational factors influence expectations. Gaps can occur when customer expectations do not align with a provider's understanding of them, service design, delivery of service, or communications about the service. Measuring perceptions against expectations on reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles can identify service quality issues using the SERVQUAL model. Addressing gaps within the organization is important to improve customer satisfaction.
Bimtech sm4a consumer expectations of serviceprateek sharma
The document discusses customer expectations of service and how to manage those expectations. There are three main types of customer expectations - minimum tolerable, acceptable, and desired/ideal. Acceptable expectations represent an adequate level of service while desired expectations are the customer's wishes. Customer expectations are influenced by personal needs, alternatives, past experiences, and situational factors. A company must understand customer expectations and the "zone of tolerance" around acceptable service levels to consistently meet and hopefully exceed expectations through reliable service and customer relationship management. Exceeding expectations can create loyal customers but also raises expectations over time.
This document provides an overview of services marketing and key concepts related to customer expectations and measuring service quality. It discusses four categories of services: service industries and companies, services as products, customer service, and derived service. Several factors that influence customer expectations are outlined, including personal needs, lasting service intensifiers, and perceived service alternatives. Customer expectations, satisfaction, and delight are defined. The importance of service quality in marketing is discussed and various dimensions of service quality like performance, reliability and aesthetics are explained. Challenges faced in services industries due to the intangible nature of services are also summarized.
The document discusses customer expectations of service delivery. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about the level of service they hope to receive (desired service) and the minimum level they will accept (adequate service). The zone of tolerance is the range of service between these levels. Factors that influence desired service are personal needs and lasting sensitivities, while factors for adequate service are more temporary and situational. The document also discusses antecedents of expectations, such as explicit promises, word of mouth, and past experience, and issues around managing customer expectations.
The document discusses customer expectations of service delivery. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about the level of service they hope to receive (desired service) and the minimum level they will accept (adequate service). The zone of tolerance is the range of service between these levels that customers are willing to accept. Factors that influence desired service are more stable and individual, while factors affecting adequate service are more temporary and situational. These include personal needs, service intensifiers, perceived alternatives, and predicted service levels. Managing customer expectations involves communicating reasons for gaps in service and efforts to improve, as exceeding expectations regularly may unintentionally raise standards over time.
This presentation discusses customer expectations of service. It begins by defining customer expectations and explaining that there are different types and levels of expectations, including ideal, normative, experience-based, acceptable, and minimum tolerance expectations.
It then examines the factors that influence customer expectations, such as explicit and implicit promises made by marketers, word of mouth, past experience, and situational factors. Current issues involving customer expectations are also addressed, like how to meet unrealistic expectations and exceed customer expectations.
The presentation concludes by providing strategies for how service marketers can influence expectations, answering frequently asked questions, and highlighting examples of what basic expectations customers have for different service types.
Significance of Service quality is very important for the success of a service company :
1. To win credibility & get repeat customers : If a company offers quality service consistently, It enjoys repeat business, i.e., customers visit it repeatedly. They may even refer it to their friends & relatives and provide positive word-of-mouth publicity to the quality service offered by the company.
2. To charge premium price : When a company offers superior quality service, compared to its competitors, customers who value quality will always prefer this company to other players in the market. So, the company will be in a position to charge a premium price from customers.
According to Berry & A Parasuraman, service quality is determined by customers using various criteria like credibility, security, access, communications, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, competence, courtesy, tangibles, understanding, etc. Gronoos also suggested another list of criteria as professionalism & skills, attitude & behaviour, accessibility & flexibility, reliability & trustworthiness, reputation & credibility, and recovery. Since some of these factors are similar or overlapping, the authors have consolidated these into five distinct dimensions,
These dimensions represent how consumers organise information about service quality in their minds. These five dimensions were found relevant for banking, insurance, appliances repair, & maintenance, securities brokerage, long distance tele-service, auto repair service, & others. The dimensions are also applicable to retail & business services. This can be logically extended to internal services as well.
This document presents a framework for optimizing client expectations in project delivery. It defines key determinants of client expectations, including client outlook score, provider positioning, and execution quality. The framework assigns weights to these determinants and uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to calculate a client expectation ratio. This provides guidance to service providers on managing expectations across diverse clients and projects to ensure satisfaction and retention.
This document presents a framework for analyzing, measuring, managing, and optimizing client expectations. It defines key determinants of client expectations, including their perception of the service provider's capabilities and positioning relative to industry. It also provides metrics to measure client expectations and satisfaction. The framework assigns weights to determinants like provider positioning, execution quality, and qualitative factors to accurately reflect expected client satisfaction.
Building customer loyalty requires delivering superior quality and customer experience to meet or exceed expectations, as loyal customers are less expensive to serve and more likely to refer others. There are five key dimensions of service quality - reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles - against which customers evaluate their experiences. Companies need to understand and close gaps between customer expectations, company perceptions of expectations, service design and delivery to consistently provide a quality experience within customers' zone of tolerance.
This document discusses key concepts in services marketing. It begins by providing examples of service businesses and defining what a service is. It then discusses that 50% of India's GDP comes from services. The document outlines the nature of services, how they differ from goods, and classifications of services. It covers strategic aspects of service marketing including segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Finally, it discusses the 7Ps of services marketing - product, price, place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence - as well as concepts like service quality, the gaps model of service quality, and customer delight.
Running head: SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 1
SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 7
Research Project – Week Two
Chris Davey
BUS 642
Instructor Kurt Diesch
July 6, 2015
Abstract
Service quality improvement has been a critical issue to most business settings, rendering them to provide poor services. They focus on spending a lot of money on ill- conceived services and undermining the best methods to offer their customers with quality services. Excellent service is an important approach because customer’s loyalty and satisfaction is improved. Customers view value as the as the profit acquired from the trouble encountered such as unfriendly employees, high prices, services which are not attractive and locations that are not convenient to them. With excellent services, profit maximization of the company is improved and customer’s burdens on non-price issues are minimized. Prior researches have concentrated on how services can be measured and nature of customer’s expectations without considering the service quality improvement factor (Loshin, 2011).
This research will help to identify and quantify the relationship between service quality and profits. The profit resulting from improved quality can be determined if the expenditure on the service quality can be ascertained. Quality would need to be described by the customer, whereby it should conform to his or her specification. Most company’s view quality as conformance to organization specifications and this research will help to solve this problem by identifying the best methods of delivering quality service. This research will help to address the questions on how to respond to customers and taking care of them to provide the best quality of service (Hernon, 2011). In short, the research paper will examine the service quality –profit link with different measures of service quality being examined by the customers for feedback. The information will be used to determine the best measure for quality and what the profit driver is.
Introduction
Service quality is defined as the difference between customer competence and expectation compared with other dimensions used to measure quality. There are several measures that can be used to evaluate the quality of service by the customer. These are service accessibility, courtesy, reliability, security, competence, credibility, tangibles, responsiveness, communication and understanding of the customer needs. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry proposed a service quality scale (SERVQUAL), a generic instrument that has 5 areas of service that have a high correlation. Tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and assurance have been used (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003)
The model has been used widely to measure customer satisfaction and customer prefe.
Service quality is critical for service companies. Customers perceive quality through their consumption experience and by comparing expectations. There are two dimensions of quality - technical (the service itself) and functional (how it is delivered). Expectations are formed by market communications, image, word of mouth, and customer needs. Perceived quality results from comparing expectations to the actual experience. Several researchers have identified key determinants of perceived quality, including reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Managing quality requires coordinated efforts between management, employees, and customers.
This document discusses the challenges of outsourcing customer service operations. It notes that there is a tradeoff between service level accessibility (SLA), which is the speed of response, and service level quality (SLQ), which is the thoroughness of issue resolution. Defining clear metrics for SLA and SLQ goals is important but difficult, as pushing one metric often negatively impacts the other. In addition, outsourcing can threaten customer loyalty if the outsourced agents do not adequately represent the brand or understand customers' issues. The document examines these service level challenges as well as the monetary and reputational costs companies must consider when deciding whether to outsource customer service.
This document summarizes key points about customer expectations of service from Chapter 3. It discusses that customers hold different types of expectations and these expectations are influenced by various sources. It also notes that customers have a zone of tolerance between their desired and adequate levels of service. The objectives are to recognize different customer expectations, discuss their sources, and address issues around expectations.
Chapter 3- Service quality and productivity.pdfOshadiVindika
Service quality is defined as meeting or exceeding customer expectations through high performance. SERVQUAL is a framework for measuring service quality across five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. There are five gaps between customer expectations and perceptions: 1) manager vs customer expectations, 2) standards vs expectations, 3) delivery vs standards, 4) promises vs delivery, 5) perceptions vs expectations. Strategies to close the gaps include improving communication between managers and customers, setting appropriate quality standards, ensuring delivery meets standards, aligning promises with capabilities, and consistently meeting expectations. Effective customer feedback uses a mix of tools to assess satisfaction, drive improvements and create a customer-centric culture.
The document discusses key concepts for understanding customer needs and delivering excellent customer service. It describes how customer expectations are formed based on past experiences and how companies can exceed expectations to increase customer satisfaction. It emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs, being customer-centered, and delivering superior value in order to build credibility and a good reputation.
The document outlines the syllabus for a course on marketing of services. It discusses key concepts in service marketing including segmentation, targeting, positioning, customer expectations, service quality, and applications in various industries. The course aims to help students understand service marketing concepts and applications, the role of people and processes in service delivery, skills needed for service communication, service quality models and gaps, and elements of the service marketing mix used in different industries.
11.appraisal relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction i...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in organized retail stores in Bangalore, India. The study tested whether seven dimensions of service quality - tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, competence, credibility, accessibility, and customer knowledge - had a significant effect on customer satisfaction. Data was collected through surveys of 310 customers at 15 retail stores. The results of the statistical analysis found that while all seven dimensions were positively related to customer satisfaction, only reliability, customer knowledge, credibility, and tangibles had a statistically significant effect. Therefore, the study concluded that retail stores should focus on improving those four areas of service quality in order to increase customer satisfaction.
This chapter discusses customer expectations of service. It defines customer expectations as reference points against which service performance is judged. It outlines that customers hold two main types of expectations - desired service, which is the level of service hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum acceptable level. It also discusses the zone of tolerance, which is the range of service that customers will accept before their satisfaction is undermined. The chapter examines factors that influence customer expectations, including personal needs, experiences, and word-of-mouth, as well as how expectations can vary between customers and service dimensions.
The document provides an overview of the Indian cement industry. It discusses the history and growth of the industry from its beginnings in 1904 with a capacity of 30 tons per day up to the present where India is the 5th largest cement producer globally. While production and capacity have increased significantly, consumption in India remains one of the lowest in the world, pointing to significant growth potential. Key factors driving future demand are expected to be infrastructure development projects and increasing per capita income and consumption. The industry has progressed through various phases of government control and deregulation.
This document discusses customer service expectations and how to manage them. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about service delivery that serve as standards against which performance is judged. There are different types of expectations including desired, adequate, and minimum tolerable levels. Factors that influence expectations are discussed, such as internal customer factors, external situational factors, and supplier controlled factors like advertising and pricing. The document provides strategies for managing expectations during the pre-purchase, service encounter, and post-purchase phases. It also discusses how exceeding customer expectations through approaches like building customer relationships and underpromising can help delight customers.
This document discusses service excellence and leadership. It covers the relationship between service quality, productivity, and profitability. Measuring service quality involves both quantifiable and non-quantifiable measures. There are five key dimensions of service quality - assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibility. Collecting customer feedback is important for performance appraisal, becoming a customer-focused organization, and driving customer growth. Tools like fishbone diagrams, Pareto charts, and blueprinting can be used to analyze service quality problems. Productivity refers to output based on inputs while effectiveness is meeting objectives. Refining service productivity involves focusing on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.
SQ Lecture Nine -Building Relationships & Service Recovery (Chapters 12 and 13)SQAdvisor
This document provides an overview and summary of key topics from Chapter 12 of the marketing textbook, including managing customer relationships and building loyalty. It discusses the importance of customer loyalty for a firm's profitability, strategies for developing loyalty bonds like deepening relationships, implementing reward programs, fostering social bonds, and offering customization. Graphs and figures are referenced to explain concepts such as the customer satisfaction-loyalty relationship, measuring customer lifetime value, and effective customer tiering. Case studies from companies like Harrah's and British Airways are also mentioned.
1. The document discusses customer perception of service quality and satisfaction. It defines customer satisfaction as a consumer's fulfillment response that is influenced by expectations, product/service attributes, emotions, fairness perceptions and other people. Service quality focuses on five dimensions: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness.
2. It describes different types of customer encounters: remote (e.g. websites), phone and face-to-face. Encounters shape customer perceptions and satisfaction levels based on factors like employee behavior, problem resolution and flexibility. Service quality aims to positively influence encounters.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era"" is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Significance of Service quality is very important for the success of a service company :
1. To win credibility & get repeat customers : If a company offers quality service consistently, It enjoys repeat business, i.e., customers visit it repeatedly. They may even refer it to their friends & relatives and provide positive word-of-mouth publicity to the quality service offered by the company.
2. To charge premium price : When a company offers superior quality service, compared to its competitors, customers who value quality will always prefer this company to other players in the market. So, the company will be in a position to charge a premium price from customers.
According to Berry & A Parasuraman, service quality is determined by customers using various criteria like credibility, security, access, communications, tangibles, responsiveness, reliability, competence, courtesy, tangibles, understanding, etc. Gronoos also suggested another list of criteria as professionalism & skills, attitude & behaviour, accessibility & flexibility, reliability & trustworthiness, reputation & credibility, and recovery. Since some of these factors are similar or overlapping, the authors have consolidated these into five distinct dimensions,
These dimensions represent how consumers organise information about service quality in their minds. These five dimensions were found relevant for banking, insurance, appliances repair, & maintenance, securities brokerage, long distance tele-service, auto repair service, & others. The dimensions are also applicable to retail & business services. This can be logically extended to internal services as well.
This document presents a framework for optimizing client expectations in project delivery. It defines key determinants of client expectations, including client outlook score, provider positioning, and execution quality. The framework assigns weights to these determinants and uses quantitative and qualitative analysis to calculate a client expectation ratio. This provides guidance to service providers on managing expectations across diverse clients and projects to ensure satisfaction and retention.
This document presents a framework for analyzing, measuring, managing, and optimizing client expectations. It defines key determinants of client expectations, including their perception of the service provider's capabilities and positioning relative to industry. It also provides metrics to measure client expectations and satisfaction. The framework assigns weights to determinants like provider positioning, execution quality, and qualitative factors to accurately reflect expected client satisfaction.
Building customer loyalty requires delivering superior quality and customer experience to meet or exceed expectations, as loyal customers are less expensive to serve and more likely to refer others. There are five key dimensions of service quality - reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles - against which customers evaluate their experiences. Companies need to understand and close gaps between customer expectations, company perceptions of expectations, service design and delivery to consistently provide a quality experience within customers' zone of tolerance.
This document discusses key concepts in services marketing. It begins by providing examples of service businesses and defining what a service is. It then discusses that 50% of India's GDP comes from services. The document outlines the nature of services, how they differ from goods, and classifications of services. It covers strategic aspects of service marketing including segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Finally, it discusses the 7Ps of services marketing - product, price, place, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence - as well as concepts like service quality, the gaps model of service quality, and customer delight.
Running head: SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 1
SERVICE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT 7
Research Project – Week Two
Chris Davey
BUS 642
Instructor Kurt Diesch
July 6, 2015
Abstract
Service quality improvement has been a critical issue to most business settings, rendering them to provide poor services. They focus on spending a lot of money on ill- conceived services and undermining the best methods to offer their customers with quality services. Excellent service is an important approach because customer’s loyalty and satisfaction is improved. Customers view value as the as the profit acquired from the trouble encountered such as unfriendly employees, high prices, services which are not attractive and locations that are not convenient to them. With excellent services, profit maximization of the company is improved and customer’s burdens on non-price issues are minimized. Prior researches have concentrated on how services can be measured and nature of customer’s expectations without considering the service quality improvement factor (Loshin, 2011).
This research will help to identify and quantify the relationship between service quality and profits. The profit resulting from improved quality can be determined if the expenditure on the service quality can be ascertained. Quality would need to be described by the customer, whereby it should conform to his or her specification. Most company’s view quality as conformance to organization specifications and this research will help to solve this problem by identifying the best methods of delivering quality service. This research will help to address the questions on how to respond to customers and taking care of them to provide the best quality of service (Hernon, 2011). In short, the research paper will examine the service quality –profit link with different measures of service quality being examined by the customers for feedback. The information will be used to determine the best measure for quality and what the profit driver is.
Introduction
Service quality is defined as the difference between customer competence and expectation compared with other dimensions used to measure quality. There are several measures that can be used to evaluate the quality of service by the customer. These are service accessibility, courtesy, reliability, security, competence, credibility, tangibles, responsiveness, communication and understanding of the customer needs. Zeithaml, Parasuraman, and Berry proposed a service quality scale (SERVQUAL), a generic instrument that has 5 areas of service that have a high correlation. Tangibles, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and assurance have been used (Zeithaml & Bitner, 2003)
The model has been used widely to measure customer satisfaction and customer prefe.
Service quality is critical for service companies. Customers perceive quality through their consumption experience and by comparing expectations. There are two dimensions of quality - technical (the service itself) and functional (how it is delivered). Expectations are formed by market communications, image, word of mouth, and customer needs. Perceived quality results from comparing expectations to the actual experience. Several researchers have identified key determinants of perceived quality, including reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. Managing quality requires coordinated efforts between management, employees, and customers.
This document discusses the challenges of outsourcing customer service operations. It notes that there is a tradeoff between service level accessibility (SLA), which is the speed of response, and service level quality (SLQ), which is the thoroughness of issue resolution. Defining clear metrics for SLA and SLQ goals is important but difficult, as pushing one metric often negatively impacts the other. In addition, outsourcing can threaten customer loyalty if the outsourced agents do not adequately represent the brand or understand customers' issues. The document examines these service level challenges as well as the monetary and reputational costs companies must consider when deciding whether to outsource customer service.
This document summarizes key points about customer expectations of service from Chapter 3. It discusses that customers hold different types of expectations and these expectations are influenced by various sources. It also notes that customers have a zone of tolerance between their desired and adequate levels of service. The objectives are to recognize different customer expectations, discuss their sources, and address issues around expectations.
Chapter 3- Service quality and productivity.pdfOshadiVindika
Service quality is defined as meeting or exceeding customer expectations through high performance. SERVQUAL is a framework for measuring service quality across five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles. There are five gaps between customer expectations and perceptions: 1) manager vs customer expectations, 2) standards vs expectations, 3) delivery vs standards, 4) promises vs delivery, 5) perceptions vs expectations. Strategies to close the gaps include improving communication between managers and customers, setting appropriate quality standards, ensuring delivery meets standards, aligning promises with capabilities, and consistently meeting expectations. Effective customer feedback uses a mix of tools to assess satisfaction, drive improvements and create a customer-centric culture.
The document discusses key concepts for understanding customer needs and delivering excellent customer service. It describes how customer expectations are formed based on past experiences and how companies can exceed expectations to increase customer satisfaction. It emphasizes the importance of understanding customer needs, being customer-centered, and delivering superior value in order to build credibility and a good reputation.
The document outlines the syllabus for a course on marketing of services. It discusses key concepts in service marketing including segmentation, targeting, positioning, customer expectations, service quality, and applications in various industries. The course aims to help students understand service marketing concepts and applications, the role of people and processes in service delivery, skills needed for service communication, service quality models and gaps, and elements of the service marketing mix used in different industries.
11.appraisal relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction i...Alexander Decker
This document summarizes a study that examined the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction in organized retail stores in Bangalore, India. The study tested whether seven dimensions of service quality - tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, competence, credibility, accessibility, and customer knowledge - had a significant effect on customer satisfaction. Data was collected through surveys of 310 customers at 15 retail stores. The results of the statistical analysis found that while all seven dimensions were positively related to customer satisfaction, only reliability, customer knowledge, credibility, and tangibles had a statistically significant effect. Therefore, the study concluded that retail stores should focus on improving those four areas of service quality in order to increase customer satisfaction.
This chapter discusses customer expectations of service. It defines customer expectations as reference points against which service performance is judged. It outlines that customers hold two main types of expectations - desired service, which is the level of service hoped for, and adequate service, which is the minimum acceptable level. It also discusses the zone of tolerance, which is the range of service that customers will accept before their satisfaction is undermined. The chapter examines factors that influence customer expectations, including personal needs, experiences, and word-of-mouth, as well as how expectations can vary between customers and service dimensions.
The document provides an overview of the Indian cement industry. It discusses the history and growth of the industry from its beginnings in 1904 with a capacity of 30 tons per day up to the present where India is the 5th largest cement producer globally. While production and capacity have increased significantly, consumption in India remains one of the lowest in the world, pointing to significant growth potential. Key factors driving future demand are expected to be infrastructure development projects and increasing per capita income and consumption. The industry has progressed through various phases of government control and deregulation.
This document discusses customer service expectations and how to manage them. It defines customer expectations as beliefs about service delivery that serve as standards against which performance is judged. There are different types of expectations including desired, adequate, and minimum tolerable levels. Factors that influence expectations are discussed, such as internal customer factors, external situational factors, and supplier controlled factors like advertising and pricing. The document provides strategies for managing expectations during the pre-purchase, service encounter, and post-purchase phases. It also discusses how exceeding customer expectations through approaches like building customer relationships and underpromising can help delight customers.
This document discusses service excellence and leadership. It covers the relationship between service quality, productivity, and profitability. Measuring service quality involves both quantifiable and non-quantifiable measures. There are five key dimensions of service quality - assurance, empathy, reliability, responsiveness, and tangibility. Collecting customer feedback is important for performance appraisal, becoming a customer-focused organization, and driving customer growth. Tools like fishbone diagrams, Pareto charts, and blueprinting can be used to analyze service quality problems. Productivity refers to output based on inputs while effectiveness is meeting objectives. Refining service productivity involves focusing on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.
SQ Lecture Nine -Building Relationships & Service Recovery (Chapters 12 and 13)SQAdvisor
This document provides an overview and summary of key topics from Chapter 12 of the marketing textbook, including managing customer relationships and building loyalty. It discusses the importance of customer loyalty for a firm's profitability, strategies for developing loyalty bonds like deepening relationships, implementing reward programs, fostering social bonds, and offering customization. Graphs and figures are referenced to explain concepts such as the customer satisfaction-loyalty relationship, measuring customer lifetime value, and effective customer tiering. Case studies from companies like Harrah's and British Airways are also mentioned.
1. The document discusses customer perception of service quality and satisfaction. It defines customer satisfaction as a consumer's fulfillment response that is influenced by expectations, product/service attributes, emotions, fairness perceptions and other people. Service quality focuses on five dimensions: reliability, assurance, tangibles, empathy and responsiveness.
2. It describes different types of customer encounters: remote (e.g. websites), phone and face-to-face. Encounters shape customer perceptions and satisfaction levels based on factors like employee behavior, problem resolution and flexibility. Service quality aims to positively influence encounters.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era"" is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Basic Management Concepts., “Management is the art of getting things done thr...DilanThennakoon
The managers achieve organizational objectives by getting work from
others and not performing in the tasks themselves.
Management is an art and science of getting work done through people.
It is the process of giving direction and controlling the various activities
of the people to achieve the objectives of an organization Management is a universal process in all organized, social and economic activities. Wherever
there is human activity there is management.
Management is a vital aspect of the economic life of man, which is an organized group activity. A
central directing and controlling agency is indispensable for a business concern. The productive
resources –material, labour, capital etc. are entrusted to the organizing skill, administrative ability
and enterprising initiative of the management. Thus, management provides leadership to a
business enterprise. Without able managers and effective managerial leadership the resources of
production remain merely resources and never become production. Management occupies such an
important place in the modern world that the welfare of the people and the destiny of the country
are very much influenced by it.
1.2 MEANING OF MANAGEMENT
Management is a technique of extracting work from others in an integrated and co-ordinated
manner for realizing the specific objectives through productive use of material resources.
Mobilising the physical, human and financial resources and planning their utilization for business
operations in such a manner as to reach the defined goals can be benefited to as management.
1.3 DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT
Management may be defined in many different ways. Many eminent authors on the subject have
defined the term "management". Some of these definitions are reproduced below:
In the words of George R Terry - "Management is a distinct process consisting of planning,
organising, actuating and controlling performed to determine and accomplish the objectives by the
use of people and resources".
According to James L Lundy - "Management is principally the task of planning, co¬ordinating,
motivating and controlling the efforts of others towards a specific objective",
In the words of Henry Fayol - "To manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to
co-ordinate and to control".
According to Peter F Drucker - "Management is a multipurpose organ that manages a business and
manages managers and manages worker and work".
In the words of J.N. Schulze - "Management is the force which leads, guides and directs an
organisation in the accomplishment of a pre-determined object".
In the words of Koontz and O'Donnel - "Management is defined as the creation and maintenance
of an internal environment in an enterprise where individuals working together in groups can
perform efficiently and effectively towards the attainment of group goals".
According to Ordway Tead - "Management is the process and agency which directs and guides the
operations of an organisation in realising of established aim
Build marketing products across the customer journey to grow your business and build a relationship with your customer. For example you can build graders, calculators, quizzes, recommendations, chatbots or AR apps. Things like Hubspot's free marketing grader, Moz's site analyzer, VenturePact's mobile app cost calculator, new york times's dialect quiz, Ikea's AR app, L'Oreal's AR app and Nike's fitness apps. All of these examples are free tools that help drive engagement with your brand, build an audience and generate leads for your core business by adding value to a customer during a micro-moment.
Key Takeaways:
Learn how to use specific GPTs to help you Learn how to build your own marketing tools
Generate marketing ideas for your business How to think through and use AI in marketing
How AI changes the marketing game
In this humorous and data-heavy Master Class, join us in a joyous celebration of life honoring the long list of SEO tactics and concepts we lost this year. Remember fondly the beautiful time you shared with defunct ideas like link building, keyword cannibalization, search volume as a value indicator, and even our most cherished of friends: the funnel. Make peace with their loss as you embrace a new paradigm for organic content: Pillar-Based Marketing. Along the way, discover that the results that old SEO and all its trappings brought you weren’t really very good at all, actually.
In this respectful and life-affirming service—erm, session—join Ryan Brock (Chief Solution Officer at DemandJump and author of Pillar-Based Marketing: A Data-Driven Methodology for SEO and Content that Actually Works) and leave with:
• Clear and compelling evidence that most legacy SEO metrics and tactics have slim to no impact on SEO outcomes
• A major mindset shift that eliminates most of the metrics and tactics associated with SEO in favor of a single metric that defines and drives organic ranking success
• Practical, step-by-step methodology for choosing SEO pillar topics and publishing content quickly that ranks fast
INTRODUCTION TO SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO).pptxGiorgio Chiesa
This presentation is recommended for those who want to know more about SEO. It explains the main theoretical and practical aspects that influence the positioning of websites in search engines.
Unlock the secrets to creating a standout trade show booth with our comprehensive guide from Blue Atlas Marketing! This presentation is packed with essential tips and innovative strategies to ensure your booth attracts attention, engages visitors, and drives business success. Whether you're a seasoned exhibitor or a first-timer, these expert insights will help you maximize your impact and make a memorable impression in a crowded exhibition hall. Learn how to:
Design an eye-catching and inviting booth
Incorporate interactive elements that engage visitors
Use effective branding and visuals to reinforce your message
Plan your booth layout for maximum traffic flow
Implement technology to enhance the visitor experience
Create memorable experiences that leave a lasting impression
Transform your trade show presence with these proven tactics and ensure your booth stands out from the competition. Download the PDF now and start planning your next successful exhibit!
Mindfulness Techniques Cultivating Calm in a Chaotic World.pptxelizabethella096
In today’s fast-paced world, stress and anxiety have become common companions for many. With constant connectivity and an unending stream of information, finding moments of peace can seem like an insurmountable challenge. However, mindfulness techniques offer a beacon of calm amidst the chaos, helping individuals to center themselves and find balance. These practices, rooted in ancient traditions and supported by modern science, are accessible to everyone and can profoundly impact mental and emotional well-being.
We’ve entered a new era in digital. Search and AI are colliding, in more ways than one. And they all have major implications for marketers.
• SEOs now use AI to optimize content.
• Google now uses AI to generate answers.
• Users are skipping search completely. They can now use AI to get answers. So AI has changed everything …or maybe not. Our audience hasn’t changed. Their information needs haven’t changed. Their perception of quality hasn’t changed. In reality, the most important things haven’t changed at all. In this session, you’ll learn the impact of AI. And you’ll learn ways that AI can make us better at the classic challenges: getting discovered, connecting through content and staying top of mind with the people who matter most. We’ll use timely tools to rebuild timeless foundations. We’ll do better basics, but with the most advanced techniques. Andy will share a set of frameworks, prompts and techniques for better digital basics, using the latest tools of today. And in the end, Andy will consider - in a brief glimpse - what might be the biggest change of all, and how to expand your footprint in the new digital landscape.
Key Takeaways:
How to use AI to optimize your content
How to find topics that algorithms love
How to get AI to mention your content and your brand
Efficient Website Management for Digital Marketing ProsLauren Polinsky
Learn how to optimize website projects, leverage SEO tactics effectively, and implement product-led marketing approaches for enhanced digital presence and ROI.
This session is your key to unlocking the secrets of successful digital marketing campaigns and maximizing your business's online potential.
Actionable tactics you can apply after this session:
- Streamlined Website Management: Discover techniques to streamline website development, manage day-to-day operations efficiently, and ensure smooth project execution.
- Effective SEO Practices: Gain valuable insights into optimizing your website for search engines, improving visibility, and driving organic traffic to your digital assets.
- Leverage Product-Led Marketing: Explore strategies for incorporating product-led marketing principles into your digital marketing efforts, enhancing user engagement and driving conversions.
Don't miss out on this opportunity to elevate your digital marketing game and achieve tangible results!
Conferences like DigiMarCon provide ample opportunities to improve our own marketing programs by learning from others. But just because everyone is jumping on board with the latest idea/tool/metric doesn’t mean it works – or does it? This session will examine the value of today’s hottest digital marketing topics – including AI, paid ads, and social metrics – and the truth about what these shiny objects might be distracting you from.
Key Takeaways:
- How NOT to shoot your digital program in the foot by using flashy but ineffective resources
- The best ways to think about AI in connection with digital marketing
- How to cut through self-serving marketing advice and engage in channels that truly grow your business
THE STORY COMMUNICATION Credential 2024.pptxhuyenngo62
The Story Communication là công ty quảng cáo truyền thông tích hợp (IMC) được xây dựng trên thế mạnh về Digital & Performance.
#Assemble #Integrity #Transformation #Initiative
Did you know that while 50% of content on the internet is in English, English only makes up 26% of the world’s spoken language? And yet 87% of customers won’t buy from an English only website.
Uncover the immense potential of communicating with customers in their own language and learn how translation holds the key to unlocking global growth. Join Smartling CEO, Bryan Murphy, as he reveals how translation software can streamline the translation process and seamlessly integrate into your martech stack for optimal efficiency. And that's not all – he’ll also share some inspiring success stories and practical tips that will turbocharge your multilingual marketing efforts!
Key takeaways:
1. The growth potential of reaching customers in their native language
2. Tips to streamline translation with software and integrations to your tech stack
3. Success stories from companies that have increased lead generation, doubled revenue, and more with translation
Boost Your Instagram Views Instantly Proven Free Strategies.pptxInstBlast Marketing
Join Performance Car Exclusive to drive the finest supercars, engineered with advanced materials and cutting-edge technology for peak performance.
https://instblast.com/instagram/free-instagram-views
Boost Your Instagram Views Instantly Proven Free Strategies.InstBlast Marketing
Supercars use advanced materials and tech for top-speed performance. Join Performance Car Exclusive to experience driving excellence.
https://instblast.com/instagram/free-instagram-views
2. 2
Customer expectations are beliefs about service delivery that serve as
standards or reference points against which performance is judged.
Because customers compare their perceptions of performance with these
reference points when evaluating service quality, thorough knowledge about
customer expectations is critical to services marketers.
Knowing what the customer expects is the first and possibly most critical step in
delivering good quality service.
Being wrong about what customers want can mean
Losing a customer’s business when another company hits the target exactly.
Expending money, time and other resources on things that do not count to the customer.
Not surviving in a fiercely competitive Market.
3. 3
Among the aspects of expectations that need to be explored and understood for successful
services marketing are the following:
What types of expectation standards do customers hold about services?
What factors most influence the formation of these expectations?
What role do these factors play in changing expectations?
How can a service company meet or exceed customer expectations?
This chapter provides a framework for thinking about customer expectations. The
chapter is divided into three main sections:
(1) The meaning and types of expected service
(2) Factors that influence customer expectations of service
(3) Current issues involving customer service expectations.
4. 4
1) Recognize that customers hold different types of expectations for service
performance.
2) Discuss the sources of customer expectations of service, including those that are
controllable and uncontrollable by marketers.
3) Acknowledge that the types and sources of expectations are similar for end
consumers and business customers, for pure service and product-related
service, form experienced customers and inexperienced customers.
4) Delineate the most important current issues surrounding customer expectations.
5. Possible levels of customer expectations
Source: R.K. Teas, ’Expectations, performance evaluation and consumers’ perceptions of quality’, Journal of Marketing (October 1993), pp. 18–34.
Reprinted by permission of the American Marketing Association
6. Adequate Service
Desired Service
Zone of
Tolerance
Customers hold different types of expectations about service.
The highest can be termed :
The level of service the customer hopes to receive – the level of performance.
Desired service is a blend of what the customer believes and
We call the threshold level of acceptable service – the level
of service the customer will accept.
Adequate service represents the
The .
7. 7
Adequate Service
Desired Service
Zone of
Tolerance
Services are heterogeneous in that performance may vary across providers,
across employees from the same provider, and even with the same service
employee.
The extent to which customers recognize and are willing to accept this
variation is called the zone of tolerance.
If service drops below adequate service – the minimum level considered
acceptable –customers will be frustrated and their satisfaction with the
company will be undermined.
If service performance is higher than the zone of tolerance at the top end –
where performance exceeds desired service – customers will be very
pleased and probably quite surprised as well.
8. 8
You might consider the zone of tolerance as the range or window in which customers do not
particularly notice service performance. When it falls outside the range (either very low or
very high), the service gets the customer’s attention in either a positive or negative way.
Adequate Service
Desired Service
Zone of
Tolerance
Customers’ service expectations are characterized by a range of levels, bounded by desired and
adequate service, rather than a single level. This tolerance zone, representing the difference
between desired service and the level of service considered adequate, can expand and contract
within a customer.
As an example, consider the service at a checkout queue in a grocery store.
As an example, consider an airline customer
9. Reliability Tangibles
Level
of
Expectation
Source: L. L. Berry, A. Parasuraman, and V. A. Zeithaml, “Ten Lessons for Improving Service Quality,” Marketing Science Institute, Report No. 93-104 (May 1993).
Adequate Service
Desired Service
Desired Service
Adequate Service
Zones of Tolerance for Different
Service Dimensions (iii)
Zone
of
Tolerance
Zone
of
Tolerance
10. 10
Another aspect of variability in the range of reasonable services is that different customers
possess different tolerance zones. Some customers have narrow zones of tolerance, requiring a
tighter range of service from providers, whereas other customers allow a greater range of service.
Zones of Tolerance for Different
Service Dimensions (iv)
Very busy customers would likely always be pressed for time, desire short wait times in
general and hold a constrained range for the length of acceptable wait times.
When prices increase, customers tend to be less tolerant
of poor service. In this case, the zone of tolerance
decreases because the adequate service level shifts
upward.
To higher expectations for the most important service dimensions
and attributes, customers are likely to be less willing to relax
these expectations than those for less important factors, making
the zone of tolerance for the most important service dimension
smaller and the desired and adequate service levels higher.
12. Lasting Service
Intensifiers
Personal Needs Zone
of
Tolerance
Desired Service
Adequate Service
Factors That Influence Desired Service
Personal needs, those states or conditions essential
to the physical or psychological well-being of the
customer, are pivotal factors that shape what
customers desire in service. Personal needs can fall
into many categories, including physical, social,
psychological and functional.
Lasting service intensifiers are individual, stable factors that
lead the customer to a heightened sensitivity to service. One
of the most important of these factors can be called derived
service expectations, which occur when customer
expectations are driven by another person or group of people.
14. 14
Temporary Service
Intensifiers
Temporary service intensifiers, consists of short-term, individual factors that make a customer more
aware of the need for service.
Any system breakdown or lack of clarity on the lines will be tolerated less during these intense
periods than at other times.
An experience of further problems with the brakes after the repair (a not uncommon situation with
car repairs), the adequate service level will increase.
Personal emergency situations in which service is urgently needed
• An accident and the need for car insurance
• Breakdown in office equipment during a busy period
- raise the level of adequate service expectation, particularly the level of responsiveness required and
considered acceptable.
Factors That Influence Adequate Service (i)
15. 15
Perceived Service
Alternatives
Perceived service alternatives are other providers from whom the customer can obtain service. If
customers have multiple service providers to choose from, or if they can provide the service for themselves
(such as lawn care or personal grooming), their levels of adequate service are higher than those of customers
who believe it is not possible to get better service elsewhere.
An airline customer who lives in a provincial town with a small airport, for example, has a reduced set
of options in airline travel. This customer will be more tolerant of the service performance of the
carriers in the town because few alternatives exist. He or she will accept the scheduling and lower
levels of service more than will the customer in a big city who has myriad flights and airlines to
choose from.
The customer’s perception that service alternatives exist raises the level of adequate service and narrows
the zone of tolerance.
Factors That Influence Adequate Service (ii)
16. 16
Self-Perceived Service Role
customer perceptions of the degree to which customers exert an influence on the level of service they
receive. In other words, customers’ expectations are partly shaped by how well they believe they are
performing their own roles in service delivery. One role of the customer is to specify the level of
service expected.
Customers’ zones of tolerance seem to expand when they sense they are not fulfilling their roles. When,
on the other hand, customers believe they are doing their part in delivery, their expectations of adequate
service are heightened and the zone of tolerance contracts.
A customer who does not get his or her car serviced regularly is likely to be more lenient on the car
manufacturer when he or she experiences problems than one who conscientiously follows the
manufacturers service schedules.
A dissatisfied customer who complains will be less tolerant than one who does not voice his or her
concerns.
Factors That Influence Adequate Service (iii)
17. 17
Situational factors defined as service performance conditions that customers view as beyond the control of
the service provider
Situational factors
Where personal emergencies such as serious car accidents would likely intensify customer service
expectations of insurance companies (because they are temporary service intensifiers),
Catastrophes that affect a large number of people at one time (floods or storms) may lower service
expectations because customers recognize that insurers are inundated with demands for their services.
Customers who recognize that situational factors are not the fault of the service company may accept
lower levels of adequate service given the context. In general, situational factors temporarily lower the
level of adequate service, widening the zone of tolerance.
Factors That Influence Adequate Service (iv)
18. 18
Predicted Service
The level of service that customers believe they are likely to get. This type of service expectation can be
viewed as predictions made by customers about what is likely to happen during an impending
transaction or exchange.
Predicted service performance implies some objective calculation of the probability of performance or
estimate of anticipated service performance level.
If customers predict good service, their levels of adequate service are likely to be higher than if they
predict poor service.
Customers of mobile phone companies may know that the companies’ call centre operations will
provide poor service around Christmas time when myriad people are setting up the mobiles that they
have received as gifts. In this case, levels of adequate service decrease and zones of tolerance widen.
Factors That Influence Adequate Service (v)
20. 20
Explicit Service Promises
Sources that Influence Desired and Predicted Service (i)
These are personal and non-personal statements about the service made by the organization to
customers.
The statements are personal when they are communicated by salespeople or service or repair
personnel;
They are non-personal when they come from advertising, brochures and other written publications.
Explicit service promises are one of the few influences on expectations that are completely in the
control of the service provider.
If the sales visit portrays a banking service that is
available 24 hours a day, the customer’s desires for that
service (as well as the service of competitors) will be
shaped by this promise.
21. 21
Implicit service promises
Sources that Influence Desired and Predicted Service (ii)
Implicit service promises are service-related cues other than explicit promises that lead to inferences
about what the service should and will be like. These quality cues are dominated by price and the tangibles
associated with the service. In general, the higher the price and the more impressive the tangibles, the
more a customer will expect from the service.
Consider a customer who shops for insurance, finding
two firms charging radically different prices. He or she
may infer that the firm with the higher price should and
will provide higher-quality service and better coverage.
Similarly, a customer who stays at a five-star hotel is
likely to desire and predict a higher standard of service
than from a hotel with less impressive facilities.
22. 22
Word-of-mouth
Sources that Influence Desired and Predicted Service (iii)
The importance of word-of-mouth communication in shaping expectations of service is well documented.
These personal and sometimes non-personal statements made by parties other than the organization convey
to customers what the service will be like and influence both predicted and desired service.
Word-of-mouth communication carries particular weight as an
information source because it is perceived as unbiased. Word of
mouth tends to be very important in services that are difficult to
evaluate before purchase and direct experience of them.
Past experience
The customer’s previous exposure to service that is relevant to the focal
service, is another force in shaping predictions and desires. You may also
compare each stay with your experiences in other hotels and hotel
chains
Experts (including consumer Reports, friends and family)
are also word-of-mouth sources that can affect the
levels of desired and predicted service.
25. 25
The following issues represent current topics of particular interest to service marketers about
customer expectations. In this section we discuss five of the most frequently asked questions
about customer expectations:
1) What does a service marketer do if customer expectations are ‘unrealistic’?
2) Should a company try to delight the customer?
3) How does a company exceed customer service expectations?
4) Do customer service expectations continually escalate?
5) How does a service company stay ahead of competition in meeting customer expectations
27. 27
Compelling evidence, shown in Table, suggests that customers’ main expectations of service are quite simple
and basic: ‘Simply put, customers expect service companies to do what they are supposed to do.
They expect fundamentals, not fanciness; performance, not empty promises.’ Customers want service to
be delivered as promised. They want :
Planes to take off on time,
Hotel rooms to be clean,
Food to be hot and service providers to show up when scheduled
Unfortunately, many service customers are disappointed and let down by companies’ inability to meet
these basic service expectations.
28. 28
Some observers recommend deliberately under-
promising the service to increase the likelihood of
meeting or exceeding customer expectations. While
under-promising makes service expectations more
realistic, thereby narrowing the gap between
expectations and perceptions, it also may reduce the
competitive appeal of the offer.
Some research has indicated that under promising
may also have the inadvertent effect of lowering
customer perceptions of service, particularly in
situations in which customers have little experience
with a service.
Under-promising
29. 29
Some management consultants urge service companies to ‘delight’ customers to gain a competitive
edge. The delight that they refer to is a profoundly positive emotional state that results from having
one’s expectations exceeded to a surprising degree.
Delighting customers may seem like a good idea, but this level of service provision comes with extra
effort and cost to the firm. Therefore, the benefits of providing delight must be weighed. Among the
considerations are:
Staying power
Competitive implications of delight.
Staying power involves the question of how long a company can expect an experience of delight to
maintain the consumer’s attention. If it is fleeting and the customer forgets it immediately, it may not
be worth the cost. Alternatively, if the customer remembers the delight and adjusts his or her level of
expectation upward accordingly, it will cost the company more just to satisfy, effectively raising the
bar for the future.
The implication is that if companies choose to delight, they should do so in areas that cannot be
copied by other firms.
30. 30
Concentric Rings.
Delights
Satisfiers
Musts
The innermost bull’s-eye refers
to attributes that are central to
the basic function of the
product or service, called musts
. Their provision is not
particularly notice- able, but
their absence would be.
Satisfiers : features that have
the potential to further
satisfaction beyond the basic
function of the product.
Final outer level are delights
, or product features that are
unexpected and surprisingly
enjoyable.
A student may consider
the musts to consist of
lecturers, rooms, class
outlines and
lectures/seminars.
Satisfiers might include
lecturers who are
entertaining or friendly,
interesting lectures and
good audiovisual aids
A delight might include a
free textbook for students
signing up for the course.
31. 31
1) In virtually any service, developing a customer
relationship is one approach for exceeding
service expectations.
Some Hotels provides highly personalized attention
to its customers
2) Another way to exceed expectations is to deliberately under-promise the service to increase the
likelihood of exceeding customer expectations. The strategy is to under-promise and over- deliver.
First, customers with whom a company interacts regularly are likely to notice the under-
promising and adjust their expectations accordingly, negating the desired benefit of delight.
Second, under-promising in a sales situation potentially reduces the competitive appeal of an
offering and must be tempered by what competition is offering.
3) A final way to exceed expectations without raising
them in the future is to position unusual service as
unique rather than the standard.
A restaurant may offer customers a free dessert by
claiming that the chef is trying out some new
recipes/creations.
32. 32
Adequate service expectations – rise as quickly as service delivery or promises rise. In a highly
competitive and rapidly changing industry, expectations can thus rise quickly.
For this reason companies need continually to monitor adequate service expectations – the more
turbulent the industry, the more frequent the monitoring needed.
In the credit card industry, as in many competitive
service industries, battling companies seek to outdo
each other and thereby raise the level of service above
that of competing companies.
Customer service expectations are dynamic.
Desired service expectations, on the other hand, are far more stable. Because they are driven
by more enduring factors, such as personal needs and lasting service intensifiers, they tend to be
high to begin with and remain high.
33. 33
A company’s goal is to meet customer expectations better than its competitors can.
Companies whose service performance falls short of this level are clearly at a competitive
disadvantage, with the disadvantage escalating as the gap widens. These companies’ customers
may well be ‘reluctant’ customers, ready to take their business elsewhere the moment they
perceive an alternative.
If they are to use service quality for competitive advantage, companies must perform above the
adequate service level. This level, however, may signal only a temporary advantage.
To develop a true customer franchise – immutable customer loyalty – companies must not only
consistently exceed the adequate service level but also reach the desired service level.
34. 34
Summary Using a conceptual framework of the nature and determinants of customer
expectations of service, we showed in this chapter that customers hold different types of service
expectations:
(1) desired service, which reflects what customers want
(2) adequate service, or what customers are willing to accept
(3) predicted service, or what customers believe they are likely to get
These different levels of service are reflected within the customer’s zone of tolerance which
establishes the variability in the service delivery that the customer is willing to accept. Customer
expectations and tolerance levels are influenced by a variety of factors.
The types and sources of these are the same for end consumers and business customers, for
pure service and product-related service, and for experienced customers and inexperienced
customers.